Linux has one, last, chance to become the No1 OS in a particular consumer-oriented market (not counting servers): the mobile phone market. The open nature and yes, the hype around Linux has made lots of mobile-oriented companies to consider using Linux for their next-generation cellphones. But there is a major problem on the way to success, a problem which is created not by Linux itself, but by the greed and close-mindness of these same companies that endorse Linux.

First of all i would like to say that... The Linux isn't problem. I thing Eugenia missed one thing. Than Linux is not GUI. Linux is the kernel. So Linux is the one, standard PLATFORM for all vendors that make their own distros for their cellphones based on it. This is great & problematic in the same time because Linux do not got one simple framework. It's just give you kernel with few tools, that may help you make your own OS with Linux kernel. Just that & only that. Problem is not Linux. Problem are vendors, that do not make any standard framework for making software to work on all distros. The same thing is with normal Linux distros on PCs. The choice is good, but too much choice make chaos. & this is what Linux is currently. When You go to some website of some nice software You may find there few or even many packages of the same software for many distros (debian, fedora, slackware, suse, ubuntu etc. etc.). This is bad, because it shows that developer don't have to write software, they must check how it will work on all Linux distros & then make packages containing librariers that are, or that aren't on some distro & sometimes even make some pathes because differences in kernel. This is sunject for another story ofcourse, & with smartphones & Linux it is even harder because differences in hardware. but... As i sayd, Linux is platform. The problem is that vendors can't make this platform work in same way for all. They got wonderfull things, but they have to use 3rd party framework for making software for it. Here chaos comes & destroys compatibility. In the graphic industry the OpenGL was born, & OpenGL ES. Those are common used standards, used on all archs & all hardware platforms. It's made with ARB consorcium. Why cellphone & PDA makers can't make such standard that let apps run on all platforms? Because it's not give monopoly for one of them. It will then shows real differences in OS. Now the main difference is software list. & everyone knows that WM is winner here. Do you think that they will wan't make their software run maybe even better on other smartphones that with WM? I don't think so. So even if Linux is great platdform, it will die...

Hmmm, but it's wrong, because Linux is not solution. It is realy only the kernel. The platform that you may take, & make something with it. something that will be Your own greate project, but it will not be Linux anymore. It will be only Linux based something. The rest is not Linux, it's POSIX or not POSIX software. That may work on Linux but same on BSD or Windows even. So it's like... Saying that is so bad that Windows 95 drivers don't work on Windows XP kernels Because Windows is not kernel only but solution. It's so... Ahhhh

I really think that problem is not with Linux at all. It's just with vendors, that can't talk about solutions that may make their products more attractive by letting run more software on them. If there is so many corps like Siemens, Motorola, Nokia, Sony, LG etc. etc. Why they can't make together some framework with SDKs. Some APIs that will let them make the software easy for all smartphones? Because they do not want that & because this may show the real prize of the phone that you buy.